Hi. I've been around for a while, but am just getting around to this.

My name is Doug Bennett, and I live in Huntsville, Alabama. While I've always been interested in photography, about 4 years ago I decided to get serious about it. I picked up a used enlarger, and bought a couple of TLRs (a Yashica Mat and a Minolta Autocord) to augment my Canon FD system. I commenced to read everything I could find about B&W. The Internet is an amazing resource for this type of endeavor.

All this was driven by my backpacking trips to an amazing area near here, the Sipsey Wilderness. It's a beautiful area, with old growth forest (hemlock, oak, poplar), huge rock formations, waterfalls everywhere, and some of the most psychedelic moss and lichen you'll ever see. A very resonant and magical place. Yet my photos of it were...................... well, mundane.

I still haven't nailed the Sipsey, but a couple of negatives get close, and that keeps me going. Fortunately, north Alabama and south central Tennessee are lovely areas, visually interesting, and providing endless opportunities to shoot.

This is a great site, with a decidedly laid back, congenial feel. What a welcome relief from the vitriol and hostility found so often on Internet forums.

Hi Doug,

Nice to have you.

The water really is nice here - makes for enjoyable daily swims. Maybe a little chlorine in the eyes from time to time, but nothing too bad. :)

Rock on.

Doug, have you heard of the Walls of Jericho up near the Tennessee border? Wilderness area that has just recently been bought by a nature conservancy or the state, I forget which. Supposed to be a *REALLY* fantastic place. I'm going to do some digging to get directions if you are up to going before the summer is out.
BTW Huntsville has a prominent place in my life as the location of the National Speleology Society headquarters while I was spending a lot of time underground. I've seen so many places I'd love to take a LF camera back to if I could find them again, other cavers took me there so I'm not real sure of the details.